I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
‘Cause I’m a real tough kid, I can handle my shit
They said “Babe, you go to fake it ‘til you make it” and I did
- I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, Taylor Swift
August 1, 1971 - POV Ginny
Ginny followed at the back of the group, semi-hiding behind Hermione and Luna. She was gripping their hands so hard she was no doubt causing pain but she couldn’t force herself to loosen her grip. Hermione was much calmer now and had seemed to find understanding in this plan. Luna had been seemingly fine, all things considered but Ginny knew that the blonde was watching her like a hawk. She knew that if one crack appeared her friends would notice it immediately. The blonde was good at that, knowing what someone was feeling. Hermione was always caring but never picked up on the little stuff, not like Luna. She was always hellbent on keeping Harry and Ron, Ginny didn’t know how the girl would be without them.
The room they had walked into was breathtaking for Ginny. Unlike the entrance hall, the room was a deep maroon colour and was completely open. She could see a breakfast room off to the right followed by what she could only assume was the kitchen. It looked nothing like the kitchen at the burrow, cramped and overflowing with mismatched utensils hanging from the wall covered with patterned paper. The whole place was so elegant and clean, but it felt warm and inviting, like a warm blanket or a mother’s hug. Mom. I miss my mom. Ginny felt her eyes close to watering and she steeled her expression. She would not have her first impression as a crybaby.
Turning her attention back to the sight in front of her, she marvelled at the family room she was standing in. There were so many places to sit, Ginny thought. Unlike the borrow where they would fight over a spot on the couch or have to sit on the floor, unless Dad wasn’t home, then they could sit in his armchair. Mom’s rocking chair was always off limits though. At the Potter’s, There were three couches big enough to fit all of the Weasleys plus Hermione, Harry, and Luna. The couches were a soft cream colour and angled around a large wooden coffee table facing a large fireplace like the one out in the other room.
Sitting on the end of the right couch was the man from earlier, Fleamont Potter, Harry’s grandfather. It was easy to see the resemblance now that she knew. She could see the family traits peaking through. His hair was less unruly and lighter but the face was similar. Of course the eyes were different, Harry had always been told that he had his mother’s eyes. Her new dad was talking to someone sitting on the middle couch facing away from the door. Euphemia cleared her throat and the conversation stopped. She glided over to stand next to her husband’s seat. Luna took a protective step in front of Ginny, and Hermione tightened her grip on her hand.
“Jamie dear,” Euphemia addressed the boy who had his back to them, “You remember the conversation we had this morning about girls I found at work, right? Well, Professor Dumbledore just dropped them off. These are the Granger triplets, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny, your new sisters.”
The boy jumped up from his seat and turned around to look at them with a big smile on his face. For the smallest second, she thought she saw Harry and flashed back to the first time they met, back at the burrow when Fred, George, and Ron stole the flying car and broke him out of the Dursleys. She was brought back to the present, well past, when she looked the boy in the eyes though. Instead of the brilliant green she was used to, she saw a dark chocolate brown and it broke her in pieces. Her heart shattered as she looked at her new brother’s goofy smile and saw the boy she had loved since she was eleven. She couldn’t imagine living with James knowing that she left behind Harry. She pieced herself back together as soon as she remembered her audience. Oh Godric, Hermione! Her head snapped to the side to look at the girl next to her. She schooled her features as to not show any weakness and saw Hermione had her brave face on. The proud Gryffindors they were, they weren’t going to let this get to them.
“Hi, I’m James!” The boy greeted, “I’m so excited to have sisters!”
“Hi James,” Hermione answered for the group, “we’re happy to be here.” Lying to the poor boy felt wrong, but polite nonetheless.
“Well, we’ll leave you four to get to know each other a little before we eat.” Euphemia said, “Monty, could you go check on dinner? I’m going to check on the rooms and make sure they are set up.”
“Of course, my love” He answered her and both the parents left the area, Fleamont towards the kitchen behind the breakfast room and Euphemia through the doors they had entered through and up the staircase.
Frozen in place, Ginny felt a tug on her hand and Hermione pulled her towards the couch Fleamont had been sitting on. Her vision came back into focus and she followed her friend to sit down. Luna took the seat closest to James, her back straight and her fist gripping the edge of her skirt as if she would deck him the muggle way if it was needed. This was new for her friend and Ginny would have sworn that she was a Gryffindor if she didn’t know the girl. Taking the seat next to Luna, Ginny threw a glance at Hermione to see if she saw it too. Hermione gave her a small shrug before sitting on her other side.
“I know my mom told me your names, but I still don’t know who’s who. Mind telling me?” James asked cheerfully.
“I’m Luna.” She answered, relaxing a little at his cheerfulness.
“I’m Hermione,” The girl said next, confidence seemed unwavering but from all those summers spent sharing a room, Ginny could see the hurt in her eyes.
“And I’m Ginny,” She finally spoke up, matching her friends’ confidence. She was not going to let this get the better of her.
“Do you guys like quidditch?” James asked excitedly, “I just got a new broom, spent my whole allowance on it since Mom said they wouldn’t buy me one unless I was on the team. First years never make the team so I saved up to get one to practise with. Do any of you play?” He was talking so fast Ginny could barely comprehend fast enough.
“Ginny plays,” Hermione said encouragingly, “She’s a chaser, a good one too. I’ve never quite enjoyed flying but I’m happy to watch. Luna gives pretty good commentary as well.”
“Blimey, we should convince Mom and Dad to get you a broom so we can play. I would give you my old one but I crashed it a while ago. That’s why I got the new one. You wanna see it?” He was so happy that it was contagious. It still hurt her to look him in the eyes and see brown not green but she felt somewhat better now, talking about quidditch.
“Sure!” She tried to sound as excited as possible but Luna and Hermione could hear the pain in her voice. Thankfully, James was none the wiser.
“We’ll come with you!” Luna said and Hermione nodded in agreement.
“Great! Dad, I’m gonna show the girls my new broom in the library.” He called towards the kitchen.
“Okay, the library’s fine, just don’t leave the first floor, your mom’s still working upstairs. And be back in 15 for dinner, Okay?” Fleamont responded followed by the crash of something falling in the kitchen. “Make that 20.”
“Sounds good, Dad!” And with that, the four new siblings stood and made their way towards the double doors on the opposite side of the room. When the doors flew open, Ginny could see a matching fireplace to the others, flanked by arm chairs. The entire room was lined with bookshelves.
“Wow,” Hermione’s voice was breathy and clearly fascinated. Ginny tried to stifle a giggle at the girl’s infatuation with books, but Hermione heard her, grabbing a pillow of a nearby arm chair to beat her with.
“Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay! Jeez, ‘Mione, no need to be violent!” She continued to giggle but quickly stopped once she saw the look on her friend’s face.
“Don’t call me that.” She answered, deadly serious. Ginny was confused but nodded sincerely and pulled the girl into a hug.
“Makes sense,” Luna said, abandoning her mother-bear act and returning to her usual whimsy, “If I had friends back home, I wouldn’t want to be called by their nickname for me either.”
Shoot, I’m such an idiot, Ginny thought, Of course Ron’s nickname for her wouldn’t be appropriate here. “I’m so sorry, Hermione. I should’ve thought before I said it. I’m such an idiot.”
“It’s fine, Ginny. You meant no harm.” Hermione said, leaving her arms and moving to one of the shelves to look at the titles.
“I feel like I’m missing something.” James stated, looking genuinely concerned for his new sister.
“I’m good,” Hermione insisted, “I just don’t like that nickname, that’s all.”
“Okay, no nicknames then” He decided. “Anyway, here’s the broom.” He walked towards a package on a table near one of the armchairs and opened it. He and Ginny fussed over it for a while until something else caught her attention. All four of the arm chairs had pillows, and she was in need of revenge. Carefully, she grabbed the pillow off the chair closest to her and hurled it at Hermione. Even in her eleven year old body, she had a star chaser’s aim and hit Hermione right in the small of her back as she was reaching to grab a book from one of the higher shelves.
Hermione lurched with the impact, dropping the collection of books that she had in her hand. “GINEVERA WEA-GRANGER!” She had slipped a little on the name causing her to miss her toss back of the pillow, hitting James straight in the face.
“Oh it’s on!” He yelled back, “And by the way, you’re all Potter’s now and we can treat this as initiation.” He hurled the pillow back at Hermione and then rushed to grab a second one before getting hit by one thrown by Luna, who was giggling in the corner.
The whole room erupted into laughter as they flung pillows in each other's directions. They went on like this using chairs and end tables as shields while pillows flew through the room. The whole scene reminded Ginny of home. The burrow certainly didn’t have a library or fancy throw pillows, but it had laughter and sibling mischief. Maybe 1971 won’t be so bad after all.
They were all having so much fun they didn’t notice when the door opened and Euphemia Potter stepped in. Ginny didn’t know how long she had been standing there, but she did know the moment she noticed her. One of James' attempts to nail Luna had gone sideways as he got hit in the side and ended up hitting his mother square in the face. Silence fell over the room as all four of them worried about retribution. Instead, she smiled, picking up the pillow and hurling it back at James. He caught it no problem, and stared at his mother in shock. “Dinner’s ready. Clean up here then come eat.” And with that, she turned on her heels and left.
“Is that usually what happens?” Hermione asked, clocking the shock on James’ face
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never tried to have a pillow fight in the library before.” He answered, smile widening.
“Well, you heard her. Cleanup then we feast for our valiant efforts.” Ginny said playfully.They picked up the pillows, turned the chairs back around, reshelved the books, and fixed the carpet before leaving the room, closing the double doors behind them.
In such a big house, Ginny expected that dinner would be eaten in a formal dining room. Instead, Fleamont had transfigured the breakfast table that previously only held four, into a table that fit all six of them. Fleamont and Euphemia sat at both heads of the table. Ginny and Luna took the spots next to Euphemia, leaving Hermione and James to sit next to their new father. James sat down next to Ginny and continued their quidditch conversation from earlier while Luna chatted with Euphemia about some creature she’d heard of and Hermione and Fleamont discussed a muggle book she had found on one of the selves.
Dinner conversation flowed comfortably and by the end of the night Ginny felt that of all of the new families she could’ve gotten, the Potters were surely the best. When dinner was over, Mia, as she urged them to call her, vanished the dishes to the sink and had them magically cleaned while they retired to the family room. “Tomorrow, I will give you a complete tour of the manor, but for right now I’ll just show you to your rooms. You girls have had a long day and tomorrow we need to go school supplies shopping so you all need to rest. Come along.”
The girls, plus James, followed Mia back into the entrance hall and up the stairs to their rooms. Luna’s was first. When the door opened the room looked kind of plain, simple with no decor, but when Luna stepped inside, it came to life. The plain grey walls turned into a pale blue and the ceiling was painted with constellations. The embroidery on the white bedding was the same light blue as the walls and beautiful dream catchers and light crystals hung by the window. The room was exactly what Ginny imagined it to be, and Luna looked ecstatic.
They said their goodnights with an extra hug from Ginny, before the group moved onto the next door, Hermione’s room. Once she stepped inside, the walls were cream with gold and red ribbons of paint bordering the ceiling and floors, besides from one wall that was completely lined with bookshelves from top to bottom. The decor was simple and put together, just how Hermione liked it. They hugged goodnight and she heard Hermione whisper in her ear, “It will all be okay, I promise.”
The final room on this side of the hall had to be hers. She opened the door and stepped inside. She almost broke on the spot as the room turned to match hers from back home. It was cleaner and missing all of the family photos that usually hung on the wall, but it was painted the same pink colour and the quilt on the bed was the same one her mother used to wrap her in when she was upset and the same hand embroidered pillow sat on the bed. Love rewards the brave. She blinked back tears. She plastered a smile on her face. She would not cry in front of James, Monty, and Mia. Not yet. Not when they wouldn’t know why she was crying.
She said goodnight and thanked the both of them. She waited until she heard the retreat of footsteps and the sound of doors closing on the opposite side of the hall before she curled up with her pillow and quilt and attempted to cry herself to sleep.
A little later she heard a knock on the door. Shoot, I forgot a silencing charm. Wait, I don’t have a wand, I couldn’t spell anything if I wanted to. She wiped her eyes and opened the door, prepared to reassure whoever was on the other side of the door that she was not in fact crying. On the other side of the threshold was a teary-eyed Luna, who asked to stay for a minute.
“I had a nightmare.” She explained, “One of my mom dying. I haven’t had one in a while but, Mia, she just looks so much like my mom.” The girls sat together in the bed as tears rolled down their cheeks, crying over losses old and new.
A second knock came after a little bit. Ginny got up again, not bothering to dry her eyes this time, and cracked the door open so that the visitor couldn’t see Luna still quietly sobbing on the bed. Thankfully, It was Hermione on the other side. She let the girl in and she said, “I heard when Luna got up and came in here. I couldn’t sleep. I miss my life.”
She joined the girls on the bed, not crying but mourning in her own silence. She stroked Ginny’s hair as they laid there, comforting each other in the silence. She didn’t know when, but at some point, with Luna’s steady breath and Hermione’s hair strokes, Ginny fell into a sleep filled with dreams of back home.