The grass beneath her felt warm from the afternoon sun. Above them, the old oak spread wide branches, turning the summer light into shifting patches of gold and shadow that Ginny could still see through her closed eyes. She could faintly hear frogs croaking from the big green pond on the other side of the Burrow.
Ginny's head rested in her boyfriend's lap, one arm draped loosely across her stomach, the other dangling lazily into the grass.
Harry's fingers hesitated in her hair again. He always did that.
As though he wanted to touch her but still half expected someone to tell him he wasn't allowed.
"Why are you stopping?" she murmured, not opening her eyes.
Harry huffed quietly.
"I'm just trying not to pull your hair."
"You won't."
His fingers resumed, brushing uncertainly through her long red strands.
Merlin. She had not expected something this stupid to feel so good.
She really felt lazy today…
But she knew that the coming school year could become very dangerous, with Voldemort and the Triwizard Tournament.
She needed to do something about that…
There were two problems she needed to deal with.
The first was Barty Crouch Junior.
Had Ginny's tip to Amelia Bones about him changed anything? Probably not.
Bones likely hadn't acted on Ginny's letter at all. So, it was reasonable to assume that Crouch Junior would still be at the Quidditch World Cup, under an Invisibility Cloak with a house-elf watching him…
Then there was Voldemort…
In the books, Pettigrew had tricked Berta Jorkins and brought her to Voldemort. Then Voldemort found out about Crouch Junior by torturing her and breaking the Memory Charm that Crouch Senior had put on her…
But Pettigrew was long dead.
Ginny had heard from her father that Jorkins had still gone missing, but everybody believed that she had just got lost. It was possible that Voldemort was still in Albania and Jorkins had simply gone on an unusually long holiday...
It was also possible that Voldemort - without Pettigrew - had found and killed Jorkins and found out about Crouch Junior. In that case, he would probably still try to kidnap Harry during the Triwizard Tournament.
Ginny could go to Little Hangleton to find out if he was in Britain…
But what if Voldemort had some other Death Eaters with him? That could become very dangerous - she had learned her lesson from her encounter with Macnair.
An anonymous tip to Dumbledore or the Aurors? Nah, that wouldn't work.
"Have you had any strange dreams lately?" she asked Harry, opening her eyes and looking up at his face.
Harry just looked confused by the sudden question.
"Uhm… no?" he half-asked, bewildered. "Why?"
Maybe it was because Voldemort was still in Albania? Or because Harry now had basic Occlumency shields…
Confused Harry was kind of cute. She giggled at the look on his face.
"You look ridiculous," she said, smiling.
Harry frowned. "I'm literally just sitting here."
"Exactly."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"It makes perfect sense."
He rolled his eyes, but there was the beginning of a smile there.
Ginny closed her eyes again.
For now, she would either kill or expose Crouch Junior at the Quidditch World Cup, making sure he couldn't escape and help Voldemort. And during the school year, she would use the Marauder's Map to find any possible impostors.
Thankfully, she had sabotaged the ritual already last year.
She remembered the cold rain soaking through her robes on the dark graveyard back then, as she dug up Tom Riddle Senior's grave and replaced the bones with those from another nearby burial - vanishing Riddle's remains afterwards just to be safe
'Like a badly lit horror film,' she mused. Oddly enough, the memory bothered her less than it probably should have.
Ginny knew enough about rituals to be certain that Voldemort's ritual would fail with random Muggle bones instead of his father's remains.
But ideally, it would never come to that…
'Mmh... what is the worst-case scenario?' Ginny wondered. 'Harry still becomes the fourth Triwizard champion and I have no idea who put his name in the Goblet of Fire… What do I do then?'
She heard the grass rustling in the wind.
'I could pretend to have the Inner Eye and warn Harry not to touch the cup during the third task… or should I warn Dumbledore? I really don't trust him, but he is the enemy of my enemy…'
Ginny sighed. She would decide later.
Unfortunately, there was still the whole destiny nonsense tying Moldyshorts and Harry together…
Had Trelawney made another prophecy recently that Ginny had somehow missed? Or had Pettigrew's death prevented that? Whatever.
Her immediate goal was Crouch Junior - everything else could be figured out later.
An owl hooted from inside the Burrow - or rather, what was obviously Fred or George pretending to be one… probably some prank. Were they annoying poor Errol again? That old bird seemed to be on his last legs…
She ignored it. Unfortunately, her pillow shifted beneath her and started talking.
"Erm, Ginny, don't you think we should go inside now?"
"No," she mumbled flatly, "I want to lie here for a few more hours."
The wind and sun on her skin were really nice. August in Ottery St Catchpole was lovely and the Burrow felt especially crammed now that even Bill and Charlie were home…
Soon Daisy would join them too. She had invited all her friends to watch Bulgaria play Ireland with her, but Emily's family already had tickets and a reserved tent plot, while Mira's parents had forbidden her from coming… Mira's mother was a really unpleasant person.
"Maybe we could grab some snacks?" Harry suggested. "My legs are slowly becoming numb…"
"No."
Sometimes Ginny enjoyed the role of the unreasonable girlfriend.
"Ginny…" he began, now sounding strangely desperate. "You promised to help me with my summer homework, remember?"
"Now?" she whined - she wanted to relax…
What was wrong with Harry? Maybe he was an impostor under Polyjuice Potion?
"We take the Portkey to the Quidditch World Cup in just six days, and I really don't understand Snape's questions," Harry argued reasonably - too reasonable… "Please, Ginny."
"Fine," she sighed, opening her eyes. Some snacks did sound nice…
Ginny yawned while following Harry to the door.
The house was strangely quiet, but Ginny ignored it. It wasn't as though she could possibly be in danger at the Burrow, surrounded by her family…
Someone had closed all the curtains, so Ginny moved to switch on the magical lights, but Harry grabbed her hand before she could do so and pulled her towards the kitchen.
"Come on, let's get some snacks," Harry said a little too quickly.
Whatever. Ginny could grab some of her mum's custard trifles.
"SURPRISE!!"
The lights flooded on. Her parents, her older brothers, Daisy and Emily all jumped out from behind the sofa and armchairs, grinning wildly.
Ginny froze for a moment, but then realized what was happening. Today was the 11th of August.
She had completely forgotten about her birthday… She had never had a surprise birthday party before, even as Alexander…
Why were her eyes stinging?
Ginny looked up at the orange 'Happy 15th Birthday!' banner stretching across the wall and the colourful streamers dangling from the ceiling, so she didn't have to look into all those honest and loving eyes.
"Happy birthday, Ginny!" her mother congratulated her with a bone-crushing hug. "My little girl is already fifteen," she added sentimentally, wiping an - probably imaginary - tear from her eyes. That was a bit over the top, wasn't it?
Everyone around her was smiling and wishing her a happy birthday - her family, Daisy, Emily and Harry.
Harry looked entirely too pleased with himself. Stupid, smug boy. He had obviously been the distraction for the surprise party. She still remembered him crying when they had celebrated his birthday at the Burrow two weeks ago - Harry had been spending almost the whole summer with them.
The twins began enthusiastically singing a magical version of the Happy Birthday song, while her mum brought out the cake from the kitchen, with fifteen candles on top.
"Make a wish, sweetheart."
A wish…
She played along, took a deep breath and blew out all the candles in one go. Everyone cheered and clapped.
Her mum cut the cake and passed slices around.
Ginny sat on the sofa next to Daisy and Emily. Harry could sit alone for all she cared.
"Since when are you here?" Ginny asked, taking a bite of her cake.
"Your brother Bill side-along Apparated us here," Emily grinned. "He is really cool, right Daisy?" she said, nudging the beet-red girl.
"I think Daisy has a crush on your brother," Emily stage-whispered into Ginny's ear, while Daisy looked like she was about to faint.
"I do not!" Daisy loudly squeaked and hid her face behind her hands, realizing that several Weasleys now were looking her way. So cute.
Ginny decided to spare Daisy and asked about Mira instead. Emily's smile immediately became strained.
"Her mother didn't allow her to spend time with her friends… Apparently she has a betrothal interview with some fourth-year pure-blood boy," Emily explained, making a face. "But she told us to wish you happy birthday and gave us a present for you," she continued, trying to lift the mood.
Mira's parents had apparently heard the rumour that she was gay… poor Mira. Ginny sighed.
They talked a while longer until Ginny's mother declared that it was time for presents. Why was she more enthusiastic about this whole birthday thing than Ginny herself?
Even as Alexander, birthdays had never really meant much. And in this life, her real birthday - if anything - would probably be Hallowe'en, which was a macabre thought…
The first gift she had to open was Molly Weasley's - a dress robe.
With cautious curiosity, she lifted it from the box.
It was… hideous.
A pink and green monstrosity. It looked more like a Disney princess dress than something real people would wear to a party…
"Wow… Thank you, Mum," she said with a forced smile. "This dress robe is very… special," she continued weakly, already planning how to get rid of it.
"Oh, I'm so glad you like it," her mother said enthusiastically and hugged her again. "Who knows, perhaps you'll have a chance to wear it to a dance soon," she added mysteriously, alluding to the Yule Ball at Hogwarts next Christmas.
Ginny managed not to roll her eyes… barely.
Instead, she turned away just in time to catch Harry unsuccessfully hiding a grin and glared at him from within her mother's embrace. Thankfully, only Harry had seemed to realise how much she disliked the dress robe, right?
The twins were also laughing in the corner of the living room - but they were always laughing.
"You've just volunteered to help me buy a proper dress robe," she whispered sweetly into her boyfriend's ear after she escaped her mother.
"Gladly, Ginny," he said with an indulgent smile.
Harry looked entirely too pleased with himself for someone who had just unknowingly committed to several hours of dress shopping.
Ginny giggled at the thought. For some strange reason, Harry suddenly looked nervous.
Harry gave her his present next, probably to distract her. It was a small scops owl. It looked really cute.
"You've complained about Errol, so I thought you would like him," Harry explained.
"Pigwidgeon?" she mumbled. This looked exactly like the owl Sirius Black had gifted Ron in the Harry Potter films… Was there some kind of strange fate nonsense at work here?
"What?" Harry said, confused.
"Ah, that is his new name," Ginny said evasively. "Cute, right?"
Probably a coincidence.
The owl jumped enthusiastically onto her shoulder and rubbed his head against Ginny while hooting in contentment. At least Pigwidgeon seemed to like his new name…
"Right…" Harry said, seemingly unconvinced.
After she got the rest of her presents, her dad took her to a quiet corner and handed her a little box.
Inside lay a pair of earrings.
They were shaped like tiny golden teardrops with a deep red stone in the middle that caught the candlelight like embers - garnets, perhaps. Fine golden vines curled around them so subtly they almost looked alive. The stones almost matched her hair.
For a moment, she just stared… They were beautiful.
"They belonged to your grandmother, Cedrella Weasley," Arthur said softly. "Before she married your grandfather."
Something strange tightened in his expression.
"She took them with her when her family disowned her," he said. "One of the few things she kept."
Right, Cedrella Weasley had been born a Black. She had died a few years ago. Ginny still remembered her through the original Ginny's memories.
"Are you sure I can have them?" Ginny asked cautiously - she had been her dad's mother after all.
"I just wanted you to have them," Arthur admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "You're growing up. Faster than I'd like, honestly." He smiled faintly. "And you're my only daughter."
Her throat felt strangely tight.
"Thank you, Dad," she said, hugging him.
As she put on the earrings, she mused on how strange it was that she liked her new family so much.
Ginny remembered the boggart taking the form of the corpses of her parents and brothers… She really didn't want to lose what she had.
That could have been a good wish for blowing out candles. Maybe next year.
For now, she really enjoyed her time with her family and friends.
She ate some food her mother had prepared and talked with Emily and Daisy about her new earrings and their summer holidays so far.
Most of her brothers and Harry were already talking about the stupid World Cup game next week again.
"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie thickly, through a mouthful of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."
"Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.
"Krum's one decent player, Ireland has got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was."
She half listened to her brothers speaking about Quidditch. How did Luxembourg have enough wizards to have their own Quidditch team?
Maybe the Quidditch World Cup wouldn't be that boring. Besides, she still needed to catch Barty Crouch Junior.
She idly played with one of the earrings as the conversation drifted around her.