Chapter Summary: Ginny has a nightmare. Fred comforts her. Set after COS.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.
Author’s Notes: Written because my four-year-old sister had a nightmare last night and crept into my bed. The second last in the ‘The Red-Haired Trio’ series.
--------------------------
“Silly girl! Did you ever think Harry Potter would ever care for you? He doesn’t even notice you!” Tom (whom she now knew to be Lord Voldemort) sneered.
“That’s not true!” Ginny cried. “He saved me from you!”
“Because he’s friends with your brother. Not out of any affection for YOU! How could anyone care about you?”
“My parents do! They came to Hogwarts when they found out!”
“And were horrified when they realised you’d been helping me. They haven’t let you out all summer, have they? They’re scared of what you might do.”
“That’s not true!”
“Yes it is, you know it is. They don’t want you to use the power you can feel growing inside you. A power we two share …”
With horror, Ginny watched as a snake slithered towards her.
~Hello, Ginny~ it hissed.
She understood it.
“NO!”
“NO!” Ginny sat upright in bed, panting. She could understand snakes! Oh, Merlin, she could understand snakes. He’d made her a Parselmouth!
She could feel the unwanted power nestled deep within her mind, just waiting for a chance to stir.
Resting her head on her white nightgown-covered knees, she began to cry.
The door creaked open, a freckled face poking in. The usually cheerful face was drawn tight in concern, and Fred slid the rest of his body in through the small space, before closing the door so no one else would hear the young girl’s sobbing.
“Gin-kin, are you all right?” he asked, walking over to the bed and sitting down.
Ginny threw herself into her older brother’s lap, burying her head in his shoulder. The comforting smell of Fred; male, burnt curtains, and sleepy sweat, comforted her in a way nothing else could. “I had a nightmare. Fred, I’m a Parselmouth.”
“Shh,” Fred stroked her hair. “How do you know?”
“I dreamed it.”
“Well, then, it mightn’t be true, might it? And if it is, that doesn’t matter. We’ll still love you the same, because you’re our precious Ginny-winny.”
“Am I?” Ginny raised her wet face to look in Fred’s eyes. “Am I really?”
The hazel orbs were full of nothing but honesty. “Of course, Gin. We all love you. We don’t care that you were hoodwinked by You-Know-Who. It’s not your fault. You’re just a little girl.”
Ginny sighed and rested her head on his shoulder again. “Ok. I love you, too.”
A light kiss was dropped on her matted hair. “I know. Now, time to go back to sleep.”
She clutched at his pyjamas. “No! Don’t go!”
“Shh, I won’t. I’ll stay right here.”
“I wanna sleep with you an’ George tonight.”
A low chuckle and she was scooped up into strong arms that would always hold her, no matter how big she got. “All right, let’s get going, then. Who knows what mischief my twin’s got into.”
Ginny giggled, in spite of herself. “But he’s asleep!”