Year Two
Boggart In A Jar
1993
Ginny was in the middle of wrestling Fred's broom into the broom shed when she heard a scream from the house.
Ginny looked around in alarm. That scream had most certainly belonged to her mother.
She raised a hand over her eyes to shield her freckled face from the August sun, so she could peer at the pile of stacked up boxes which happened to be her home. The front door was hanging open by a pile of Wellington boots, the chickens were scratching about the yard and nothing appeared to be out of place.
Ginny locked the broom shed, then trooped across the overgrown yard to the the house her family called the Burrow.
Upon entering her family's cluttered, and warm colored kitchen she found her mother with her arms about her father.
"Oh Arthur!" Molly Weasley said in a muffled voice. "This is wonderful!"
Ginny paused in the doorway. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked her parents.
Arthur Weasley looked around at his daughter. "Ginny! Of course not. Take a look at this!"
He tossed Ginny a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet. Ginny caught it with ease and unrolled it.
"Page five," said Arthur, while Molly let go of her husband to watch her daughters reaction.
Ginny flipped to page five and read the first article.
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. A delighted Mr Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our oldest son works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."
The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.
Ginny looked up from the paper with a broad grin. "We're going to Egypt?"
Arthur grinned. "Well, that's what we planned on doing when I entered the draw!"
"We'll get to see Bill! And I can spend my birthday there!" Ginny said excitedly.
"It's going to be wonderful," said Mrs Weasley, smiling at father and daughter fondly. "We haven't been on vacation for longer than I can remember. I'll make some breakfast, then I'll start packing."
"Molly you don't have to-" started Arthur, but the woman was already bustling away from the door and over to the stove. Arthur shrugged at Ginny. Then he took the paper back and went to sit at the table. Ginny followed him.
"What were are you doing up so early, Ginny?" Arthur asked as he adjusted his glasses and spread the Daily Prophet out in-front of him. He appeared to be rereading the article, possibly to make sure it was real.
"I was using Fred's broom," said Ginny.
Arthur looked up at her, mildly concerned. "Does, er, Fred know about this?"
Ginny shook her head. "They never let me play Quidditch with them, so I've been taking their brooms out one by one to practice," said Ginny.
"Ah, I see," said Mr Weasley.
"You won't tell, will you?" Ginny added, as an after thought.
Arthur winked. "Not a word."
Mrs Weasley wasted no time piling her daughter and husbands plates with fried eggs, bacon, bangers, spuds and buttered toast. The three began planning our all the wonderful things they would do in Egypt.
Ginny was nearly finished with her plate, when the twins came galloping downstairs, still in their pajamas.
George's red hair was sticking up like it just got struck by lighting.
Molly turned on the boys immediately with her hands on her hips. "Boys," she said sternly. "Why do I smell smoke?"
"No idea, Mum," said Fred, sitting beside Ginny and stealing a banger with his fingers.
"Absolutely none," said George, sitting beside his father, who had hastily picked up the newspaper.
"Well, never mind that,"'said Mr Weasley. He looked to his wife. "Don't we have something to tell the boys, Molly?"
Molly's face lit up. "Oh, yes. Fred, George, we're going to -"
Fred dropped the fork he was holding with a look of alarm. "Please don't tell me we're getting another sibling," he groaned.
"Oh, of course not!" said Mrs Weasley.
"Thank goodness!"'sighed Fred in relief.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to end up with another Ginny," said George, grinning.
"Hey!" protested Ginny.
"The news is," said Mr Weasley, talking loudly so as to be heard. "That I won the Daily Prophets annual Grand Prize Galleon Draw!"
Fred and George's faces lit up and they said "Wicked!"and all in unison.
"How much did you win?" asked George eagerly.
"Seven hundred galleons!" said Mr Weasley.
Ginny gaped at her father along with the twins. They'd never seen that much money, never mind heard of their family owning it. The Weasley's were far off from well-to-do.
Once Ron and Percy were down stairs, the family began to plan out their trip.
Ginny couldn't be more excited; a trip to Egypt, a visit with her oldest brother, Bill, her twelfth birthday, and then back to Hogwarts where Ginny was hopeful she would have a better year than before.
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"Sirius Black."
"Oh you mean that madman who's been stealing all the headlines in the local news? The one who just escaped from prison?"
"The very same."
"He'd probably be rather handsome in rugged sort of way if he weren't so dirty and skinny. What about him?"
Viola's parents words came floating out the window. Viola was sitting just beneath the window sill on a patch of green moss, playing with Jinx, the rat.
"Yes, well, it wasn't just any prison he escaped from," Roderick Lestrange's voice said. "It was Azkaban."
"What in heavens name is Azkaban?" asked Ira Lestrange.
"It's the wizarding prison."
"The wizarding prison? Whatever is he doing there?"
"Well . . . He's a wizard."
"Good heavens! Just what we need! A madman on the loose, with a wand!"
Viola was distracted from the conversation when she caught the sight of fluttering black wings out of the corner of her eye.
Auggie the bat dropped onto her shoulder. There was an envelope tied around the bat's leg.
"Hello Auggie!" said Viola, smiling at the creature.
She untied the envelope and immediately recognized Hugo's tidy hand writing across the front.
Viola's summer hadn't been the best, but it wasn't the worst either. Her parents hadn't said much to her, although her mothers disdainful glances were consistent. Viola had spent most of her time outside with her pets and writing letters to Hugo. So all in all it could've been much worse, but Viola still couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts.
Viola's first year at the school hadn't been everything she hoped, but Viola was determined to put it all in the past and enjoy her second year at Hogwarts fully.
Viola ripped open the letter and eagerly read.
Dear Viola,
Hullo! Only a month until we set off for Hogwarts! Are you ready?
Me and my family (which includes my mum, dad, and brother, Lance, who are all muggles) are in the Bahamas! I'm getting a nice tan! I hope you're having fun! Are you??? If you're not, don't loose hope! It's almost the end of the summer! And we're going to have a great time at Hogwarts! Can't wait to see you!
Love, Hugo
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A/N: Ginny and Viola have returned. I know previously I updated almost every day, but it'll probably have slower updates from now on. Especially this week since I'm pretty busy.
Also, I am working on editing Romilda out of the story. She will be replaced by a character by the name of Pamela.
Anyway! If you're reading this, thanks!