A new fic: her seventeenth birthday
May. 9th, 2007 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fpbThe preparations had been going on for a while now. After all, this was the youngest of the red-headed clan, last of the brood, and the only girl for generations. Even if she were not the family favourite, everybody’s pet – and incredibly beautiful, if anyone noticed that – her coming of age would have been a great event. As it was, every member of the Weasley family wanted this day to be absolutely unforgettable. So the final preparations had been going on through the night.
Now they waited in the dining room, hung with banners proclaiming HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINNY WEASLEY and THE LAST AND THE BEST. There was only one regret: the youngest of the brothers was missing. For months now, Ron, along with his fiancée Hermione Granger and with Harry Potter, had been impossible to find; and everyone was trying not to think of the dark and dreadful things they had gone to search and to destroy.
The sunlight had grown stronger through the translucent curtains, and the Weasleys were growing restive. “She’s a sound sleeper, our Gin,” said Fred (or was it George?) with a grin. “Yes,” answered his twin in the same near-whisper, “except of course when you want her to sleep. D’you remember –“
“Ssshhhhh!” Their father, Arthur Weasley, gestured urgently; startled and alarmed, they all fell silent. A split-second later, they all heard what had struck him: a wholly unnatural sound, a clanking, coming from upstairs and moving in their direction.
They all drew their wands, noiselessly and at once. The clanking came down the stairs, step by step; and in the shadows of the early morning, they could see a gleam as of metal.
Suddenly they saw, and a collective gasp rose from all their throats. It was Ginny; but from her throat to her feet, she was encased in yellow metal, and she carried a bright yellow helm under her left arm.
Bill, her eldest brother, was the first to recover his speech. “Ginny!” he burst out, “what on Earth…?”
“Harry was here overnight. Dad… Mum… everyone… he left a few hours ago, and this is his gift for us. There is one for each of us,” she concluded placing a number of golden metal balls on the table, each with the name of a member of the Weasley family.
“Garde dorée” said Bill’s beautiful wife, Fleur, holding her golden ball as though in a dream.
“Yes,” answered Ginny simply.
“Mais..” started Fleur, startled into her native language; and then she caught an unmistakeable glare from Ginny, and fell silent.
“Harry said,” said Ginny, addressing her whole family as the festival hangings and cakes lay unnoticed and forgotten, “that Hermione found this spell in a deserted ancient library in the Alps. It is supposed to be the strongest possible protection against all magic. It looks like ordinary armour, but it can deflect any hostile spell – even the Avada Kedavra, apparently. Though he says they did not exactly hurry to test that little item of information.”
She went on. “Harry decided that everyone he cared for should have one. He, Ron and Hermione have one each, wherever they are… he would not tell me. He has let Lupin have one. And these…”
There was a deep shadow in her eyes. “Last night, Harry and I exchanged vows. Vows which… in our eyes… only death can break. Legally, we are not married yet, but in our eyes, we are. You’ve got a son and brother in law, everyone.” There was another silence, but it had a different quality – the sense of an emotion too deep and tender for words. “And then he said that, since you were all family now, he would see to it that you did not suffer for it at the hands of that madman or his followers. And he gave me these and showed me how to use them.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………
The party was now in full swing at last. Ginny had shown everyone how to create armour from the golden balls (“Simply touch them with your naked fingers and whisper: Armor! And when you want them to turn into the golden ball again, say out loud: Disarmor! That will do the trick”) and explained their working: “Each of them is meant to take the form and peculiarities of the person who uses it. It cannot really be taken from you, not without a lot of work on the forming and binding spells, and it will protect your body automatically. You can also treat it like real armour, taking off the gloves or the helm or any bit that is in your way if you want to…”). And this had had an unexpected effect, because everyone – even Molly Weasley, who looked rather curious in armour – had had a great time testing the various features of the enchanted armours, putting it on and off suddenly, trying to see whether they would respond to others’ commands (they would not). And it was not before the arrival of other guests, when the armours had been turned back into balls and concealed, that Fleur had the opportunity to corner Ginny.
“Ginevra… a word with you, if I may.”
“Oh, sure, come along” answered Ginny, leading her to her own deserted bedroom.
“Ginevra… Ginny… when I was at Beauxbatons, I read about the Garde dorée once.” Ginny just nodded.
“And it said… I don’t know whether this is a legend or the truth… it said that it was regarded as a rather impractical spell for most magicians, because in order to work, the armour would have to be heavily inlaid with pure gold. Is that true?”
Ginny nodded.
“So.. if one armour is so expensive… Harry, Ron and Hermione, that’s three. Lupin, four. You, your mother, your father, Bill, Charles, Fred, George, and me, that’s twelve. How could Harry…?”
“You forget Percy. Harry let him have one, with the instructions, at the Ministry. Thirteen. Even though Percy insists…”
“Well, that’s even more…”
“Yes. Fleur, Harry’s parents were rich, and they left him piles of gold in Gringott’s. He has used every last penny of it in this armour. He said he was worried for a while that he could not reach thirteen.”
“Until he met us, Harry did not have a family at all – except for a few tokens of his murdered parents, and that gold. The gold was the only thing he had of his own family. Do you see now why he would use it for us?”
“Yes. We are his family now, aren’t we? I was lucky to marry Bill… quite apart from all happiness he gives me.”
“Yes,” answered Ginny, touched in spite of herself. “And when I tried to protest, he told me that we… we Weasleys… had done very well without much gold for so long. That we were people he was proud to know and would set anyone for an example. And that he felt more comfortable now that he could be one of us without that enormous pile of gold to make a difference. That its only value in his eyes was that it was a memory of his parents… and that his parents would be glad that it now served to protect his and their new family.”
Now they waited in the dining room, hung with banners proclaiming HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINNY WEASLEY and THE LAST AND THE BEST. There was only one regret: the youngest of the brothers was missing. For months now, Ron, along with his fiancée Hermione Granger and with Harry Potter, had been impossible to find; and everyone was trying not to think of the dark and dreadful things they had gone to search and to destroy.
The sunlight had grown stronger through the translucent curtains, and the Weasleys were growing restive. “She’s a sound sleeper, our Gin,” said Fred (or was it George?) with a grin. “Yes,” answered his twin in the same near-whisper, “except of course when you want her to sleep. D’you remember –“
“Ssshhhhh!” Their father, Arthur Weasley, gestured urgently; startled and alarmed, they all fell silent. A split-second later, they all heard what had struck him: a wholly unnatural sound, a clanking, coming from upstairs and moving in their direction.
They all drew their wands, noiselessly and at once. The clanking came down the stairs, step by step; and in the shadows of the early morning, they could see a gleam as of metal.
Suddenly they saw, and a collective gasp rose from all their throats. It was Ginny; but from her throat to her feet, she was encased in yellow metal, and she carried a bright yellow helm under her left arm.
Bill, her eldest brother, was the first to recover his speech. “Ginny!” he burst out, “what on Earth…?”
“Harry was here overnight. Dad… Mum… everyone… he left a few hours ago, and this is his gift for us. There is one for each of us,” she concluded placing a number of golden metal balls on the table, each with the name of a member of the Weasley family.
“Garde dorée” said Bill’s beautiful wife, Fleur, holding her golden ball as though in a dream.
“Yes,” answered Ginny simply.
“Mais..” started Fleur, startled into her native language; and then she caught an unmistakeable glare from Ginny, and fell silent.
“Harry said,” said Ginny, addressing her whole family as the festival hangings and cakes lay unnoticed and forgotten, “that Hermione found this spell in a deserted ancient library in the Alps. It is supposed to be the strongest possible protection against all magic. It looks like ordinary armour, but it can deflect any hostile spell – even the Avada Kedavra, apparently. Though he says they did not exactly hurry to test that little item of information.”
She went on. “Harry decided that everyone he cared for should have one. He, Ron and Hermione have one each, wherever they are… he would not tell me. He has let Lupin have one. And these…”
There was a deep shadow in her eyes. “Last night, Harry and I exchanged vows. Vows which… in our eyes… only death can break. Legally, we are not married yet, but in our eyes, we are. You’ve got a son and brother in law, everyone.” There was another silence, but it had a different quality – the sense of an emotion too deep and tender for words. “And then he said that, since you were all family now, he would see to it that you did not suffer for it at the hands of that madman or his followers. And he gave me these and showed me how to use them.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………
The party was now in full swing at last. Ginny had shown everyone how to create armour from the golden balls (“Simply touch them with your naked fingers and whisper: Armor! And when you want them to turn into the golden ball again, say out loud: Disarmor! That will do the trick”) and explained their working: “Each of them is meant to take the form and peculiarities of the person who uses it. It cannot really be taken from you, not without a lot of work on the forming and binding spells, and it will protect your body automatically. You can also treat it like real armour, taking off the gloves or the helm or any bit that is in your way if you want to…”). And this had had an unexpected effect, because everyone – even Molly Weasley, who looked rather curious in armour – had had a great time testing the various features of the enchanted armours, putting it on and off suddenly, trying to see whether they would respond to others’ commands (they would not). And it was not before the arrival of other guests, when the armours had been turned back into balls and concealed, that Fleur had the opportunity to corner Ginny.
“Ginevra… a word with you, if I may.”
“Oh, sure, come along” answered Ginny, leading her to her own deserted bedroom.
“Ginevra… Ginny… when I was at Beauxbatons, I read about the Garde dorée once.” Ginny just nodded.
“And it said… I don’t know whether this is a legend or the truth… it said that it was regarded as a rather impractical spell for most magicians, because in order to work, the armour would have to be heavily inlaid with pure gold. Is that true?”
Ginny nodded.
“So.. if one armour is so expensive… Harry, Ron and Hermione, that’s three. Lupin, four. You, your mother, your father, Bill, Charles, Fred, George, and me, that’s twelve. How could Harry…?”
“You forget Percy. Harry let him have one, with the instructions, at the Ministry. Thirteen. Even though Percy insists…”
“Well, that’s even more…”
“Yes. Fleur, Harry’s parents were rich, and they left him piles of gold in Gringott’s. He has used every last penny of it in this armour. He said he was worried for a while that he could not reach thirteen.”
“Until he met us, Harry did not have a family at all – except for a few tokens of his murdered parents, and that gold. The gold was the only thing he had of his own family. Do you see now why he would use it for us?”
“Yes. We are his family now, aren’t we? I was lucky to marry Bill… quite apart from all happiness he gives me.”
“Yes,” answered Ginny, touched in spite of herself. “And when I tried to protest, he told me that we… we Weasleys… had done very well without much gold for so long. That we were people he was proud to know and would set anyone for an example. And that he felt more comfortable now that he could be one of us without that enormous pile of gold to make a difference. That its only value in his eyes was that it was a memory of his parents… and that his parents would be glad that it now served to protect his and their new family.”
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 10:31 am (UTC)Nice!
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Date: 2007-05-09 12:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 08:34 pm (UTC)Good thing there was all that gold in the Potter vault at Gringotts.
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Date: 2007-05-10 08:18 am (UTC)