Snow Day [Ginny]

[lucy weasley]

Lucy loved the snow. She'd had a great morning so far enjoying the chilly December air,  hurling snowballs, laughing, and joking, and simply having fun. But, of course cold made sure that either that wouldn't last, or that a break was necessary. The young redhead was grateful that lunch was being served in the great hall, and that there were so few students here right now. She found herself nursing a warm mug of hot chocolate, sipping from it and smiling up at the whirling snow fall through the bewitched roof of the great hall. Winter was a close second when it came to seasons for Lucy, narrowly losing out to autumn, because of the flying conditions. Still, the girl was excited for the Christmas holidays, for the trip to the Burrow that would no doubt take place, for the chance to be together with her whole, large family. Grinning from ear to ear, Lucy sighedwith contentment. 

The girl had been through a lot lately, she'd had a lot of interesting problems go through her mind. She'd started taking her interest in boys in earnest, and she'd discovered she could feel the same way about girls, and didn't really know what to make of it. She'd had arguments with her parents about their lofty expectations, and she'd learned so much. She'd have her OWLs later in the school year. Lucy didn't know how she was going to handle so much at once, but Christmas, and snow would tell her not to worry for now. to relax, to be content, and have fun. To be a teenager at last. 

Luce finished her first mug of hot chocolate and reached for another, depositing a couple of marshmallows into it, as she scanned the great hall, eyes moving to the doors,  she spotted one of her favorite family members, offering a  happy wave to the woman from whom she took her middle name. She hoped Ginny would have some time to talk with her.

@ginny

[Deleted]

Sweet mother of Merlin, it was absolutely bloody freezing! The redheaded witch rubbed her slim hands together, seeking in vain for the slightest hint of warmth. She loved the winter, she really did... it was just that sometimes, she had to remind herself of why. Especially at moments such as this, when she had entered the Great Hall in desperate need of something hot to eat and something hotter to warm her hands on, and had been prevented from achieving either of these goals by a small Gryffindor girl who, as cute as she was, was in serious danger of being throttled as Ginny spent ten minutes carefully explaining the concept of a library, since the miniscule lioness clearly had no idea on where she ought to start doing the research that her Potions teacher had set as homework.

The redheaded witch breathed a sigh of relief as she finally managed to escape, hurrying off towards her seat at the staff table where she desperately hoped she would find a bowl of hot soup awaiting her. Hot chocolate was all very well- Ginny had an entire mouthful of sweet teeth- but there were times, loath as she was to admit it, when all that one needed was something savoury with a hint of spice and about half a loaf of bread to go with it... Ginny's mouth watered at the thought and she increased her pace as she moved across the Great Hall, returning the wave of her Hufflepuff niece. Regretfully, she considered the maxim that her mother had always believed- 'family comes first'- and decided that she really ought to go and talk to the girl. Her hunger could wait. Unfortunately, no one had thought to inform her stomach of this, and it growled in protest as the witch walked across the room to where Lucy sat.

"Hiya, Lucy." the redhead greeted the Hufflepuff, perching on the edge of the bench next to her. "How's things?"

lucy weasley

[lucy weasley]

"Hi there, Professor." The younger redhead greeted her. Of course Lucy had known Ginny her whole life and such a term of address was hardly how she would have addressed her aunt away from school. But of course the adolescent witch had had more than one brusque conversation about how irrespective of her relationship with a professor, she was to address them formally. Percy Weasley would not have anyone saying that his daughter was anything less than the picture of decorum and formality. While Lucy generally prided herself on falling short of her father's expectations in a way that would have made her twin uncles proud, she did actually want to please her father. She'd simply admitted the lofty requirements weren't reasonable, doubting that Percy himself would have risen to his own standards if it wasn't for Molly Weasley's love and support.

"Things're... Okay." The Hufflepuff vastly oversimplified her emotions. "I was going to ask if I could spend some time with you before we all go to the Burrow for Christmas. Dad wants me home and... Honestly between preparing for OWLs, and working through personal stuff. I don't think I can handle that." She knew Ginny would get it, she'd grown up with Lucy's dad at his most pretentious and stubborn, and Lucy suspected that Percy wouldn't have been any more forgiving of his sister's transgressions than his daughter's.

"How are you?" She asked. She wasn't deflecting, but she was stalling. How exactly did one ask about the things that were bothering Lucy? The young lady wasn't sure. She wasn't usually this meek, or, meek at all really. She wondered if her unease and uncertainty would speak for itself, when it came to the confusion she'd been feeling, and the problems  she was having inside her own mind. 

@ginny

[Deleted]

Ginny smiled brightly at the younger girl, feeling suddenly revitalised, and delved one hand into a pocket, coming out with a bag of boiled sweets which she offered to her niece, and then to everyone else in the vicinity. She was not normally the kind of person to carry around such things, not out of any particular prejudice or concern about health but rather because she could not be bothered, but they had been an early Christmas present from a friend who was working abroad in Spain, and honestly, the redhead doubted that they would last the week. Mary knew her tastes, all right; in fact, she probably knew them a little too well if Ginny was ever going to make it to her next birthday with a full set of teeth. Which was why she was doing her best to share them around as many people as possible, because the Gryffindor Head of House knew very well that if she allowed herself to then she would be absolutely compelled to eat them all herself, and the memory of her mother's figure loomed large. Molly Weasley had never been fat- rather, she had been what might be affectionately termed 'pleasantly plump'- but Ginny had no intention of becoming such a thing herself, if she could help it. Fortuitously, her metabolism seemed at least to be on her side there.

The redhead nodded as the Hufflepuff confirmed herself to be OK- although whether she believed it or not, Ginny wasn't quite sure. "Of course you can!" she assured her niece with a smile. "You're welcome to any time, you know that." She just loved people, and it was the more the merrier in Ginny's book, although she was aware that Harry was not quite so relaxed as she was- but he'd be fine. Family was family.

"I'm not so bad, thanks. Can't be gloomy at Christmas time!"

[lucy weasley]

"Thanks!" the younger redhead beamed, resisting the urge to hug her professor aunt, if only because such an action wouldn't see her mocked and jeered at by her peers. She was relieved not to be going straight home to her father, although honestly she could only hope that he wouldn't be too angry at his sister. She hadn't exactly thought to ask him if it would be okay, and her father had once advised members of their family to distance themselves from Ginny's husband. Continuing to smile, Lucy took the sweet her aunt had offered her, with a nod of gratitude. "If it helps I'd be happy to take the kids away for the day every now and then, so you could have some alone time with Harry?" She offered. The young witch was under no illusions that Ginevra and Harry Potter wouldn't treasure some time to themselves. Lord knew they deserved it.

As Ginny confirmed that she was all right, and that Christmas time gloom wasn't an option, Lucy shuffled a little awkwardly. She'd definitely been feeling a little gloomy of late but the reasons were personal enough that her fellow students didn't need to hear the specifics of what was bothering her. "You might need to remind my dad about that rule." She said with a little laugh at her up-tight father's expense, hoping she had deflected, at least for now, from the many problems whirling about her teenage mind.


@ginny

[Deleted]

Ginny returned the younger girl's smile, herself having to fight an urge to hug her niece. Now, she reminded herself firmly, was not the time. To go around hugging one's students was the height of unprofessionalism, and that was unprofessionalism with a capital U. She understood all too well how the girl might well desire to get away from her father every once in a while. Ginny herself had frequently experienced that feeling while growing up with her brother, and she could only imagine how much worse Percy might be now that he had a whole home under his own regime. Granted, he had calmed down a little after the battle, probably a little embarrassed at how he had behaved throughout the whole thing- which, in Ginny's view at least, he had had every reason to be- but it had been temporary, it would seem. Percy was like a pompous rubber ball. No matter how hard one tried to push him under the water, he just kept on coming back- and he puffed himself up further and further each time. Ginny was unsure of what job it was he was doing now; if she was honest with herself, she had never been especially interested. Probably something involving paperwork and protocol, and she was sure that he was very happy doing it. Why couldn't he have done something interesting like Bill and Charlie had? It might have made him so much more fun.

"I'm not sure how much we'll be seeing of Harry." the redhead responded honestly. "He'll probably be working- you know how it is. But you'd better believe I'll be dragging him home at the end of the day. Thank you, Lucy, that would be great." She chuckled at the girl's suggestion. "Ah, well, so long as you tell him it's a rule, he'll be sure to stick to it." she joked.

[lucy weasley]

Lucy laughed. If anyone knew how to joke at Percy Weasley's expense it was his little sister. Lucy knew she was hard on her father, but he was hard on her too, and there were times where if she didn't laugh she'd cry. She was sure that the same would once have been true of Ginny. After all, he'd been a prefect during the elder redhead's traumatic first year in the school. She stifled her grin after a short moment.

Why wouldn't they be seeing Harry? Lucy was never exactly a fan girl. She wasn't the adoring fan that her aunt had been during her pre-teen years, but she had grown up loving the company of her aunt and uncle both. She was a seeker because Harry had fostered her love of the position. The challenge of pursuing the snitch, the thrill of holding it high to a cheering crowd's approval. She had never thought of Harry Potter as a hero, but at the same time she loved his stories of heroism. Hunting horcruxes, uncovering the secret of the shrieking shack, the undoing of the ridiculous Gilderoy Lockheart who Lucy's grandmother had loved so much. "It's a shame Harry's been so busy. It would have been nice to fly with him." She said, slightly disappointed for her own sake as well as Ginny's. She would have liked to fly with her uncle again - with any of her family members honestly. It was rare that they had time these days. Of course Ginny was a Chaser herself, but she couldn't really take care of her children while she was up on a broomstick, unless the kids joined them.

Lucy was gripped by a sudden impulse. She wanted to ask her aunt something, well, a couple of things. She still wasn't exactly sure how to approach thee topics that had stressed her out but it was worth a shot. "Could we talk somewhere else, Professor?" She asked slightly nervously. She hoped using her aunt's professional title would throw off the scrutiny of her fellow Hufflepuff students. This was sensitive, serious teenager business, and Lucy wouldn't risk her reputation by asking her aunt in front of Ginny's students.

[Deleted]

Ginny grinned somewhat guiltily as her niece burst into laughter. "Don't tell him I said that." she warned seriously. Ginny had had one lecture on the proper way to bring up a child from her older brother, and she had no desire whatsoever to suffer through a second. She wouldn't have minded quite so much, but the fact was that Ginny knew perfectly well how she ought to go about raising a family. The same way that her mother had done; love, laughter and lots of food. And to be honest, Ginny had enough worries about whether or not she was providing those in adequate quantities, without having to suffer through hours of Percy's monotonic droning, packed with the names of sociological theorems and psychological papers. She did worry about her niece, though. Percy was doing his best, she knew, and he did love Lucy, but Ginny wasn't convinced that he knew the right way to show it.

She nodded somewhat resignedly at the girl's comment. Yes, it would have been nice to have Harry around for Christmas. It would have been nice for him to take a week or two off, to spend time with his wife, to spend time with his children, to spend time with his extended family. It would have been nice to have him sitting in the front room playing board games or playing catch in the garden or taking Lucy flying over the forests; in fact, it would just be nice to see him more often. It was partly her own fault, she knew. Her job kept her in Scotland for much of the year; she didn't go home at the end of the day, and when she was at home, she generally had marking to do. But there were days- generally during the summer holidays- when she found herself alone in the house with the children, and with nothing to do. And she didn't enjoy those days.

The redhead raised an eyebrow at the request, but replied "Of course!" as she rose to her feet, leading the Hufflepuff over to a secluded alcove, half concealed behind a tapestry, where they would be neither seen nor heard. "What can I do for you?"

[lucy weasley]

Lucy was a little awkward in her approach, that much was obvious. She followed a little uneasily. It wasn't that she lacked confidence, far from it. She just didn't know what to make of the trouble in her life, nor how to handle things. The older witch had been incredibly popular with boys during her time in Hogwarts, but she had also become a worldly woman who knew a lot about a lot of things, and had a perspective that the younger Weasley lacked. Lucy spoke up, perfectly calm and composed once they were away, in stark contrast to the uncertainty she had displayed - both emotions were there, but Lucy was never one to project anything but confidence where she could help it.

"Well." She said, before taking a deep breath. "I was hoping you could give me some dating advice." She was honest with her aunt. "There's no specific boy, or anything but I know you were popular, and I was hoping you might be able to give me an idea of how to handle that?" The younger redhead wasn't unattractive herself, and there were more than a few students who had noticed that, but her relationships so far had been tumultuous, fleeting things. She wanted something a bit more fulfilling. Lucy Weasley would probably never settle down with a conventional family had have children.

"And - uh." She faltered for the first time. "I think I like girls as well as guys, and I have no idea how to approach that - or what to tell dad." The words fell from her mouth in a swift, un-lucy-like jumble. It wasn't that she thought her father was homophobic, but she did think he was very conventional and very uptight. Lucy had always pictured Percy having her whole life planned out, wincing every time she deviated. Of course she was being unfair on her father within her own mind, but what teenager wasn't a bit uncharitable in thoughts of their parents.

"I'm sorry to bother you with this stuff, Aunt Ginny... I just don't really know who else to ask."

@ginny

[Deleted]

Ginny had, in the past few years, become rather good at advice. Having three children of her own as well as any number of nieces and nephews courtesy of her six brothers meant that she was constantly in demand, and to be honest, she found that she rather enjoyed it. It wasn't always easy, of course, but then life wasn't easy and Ginny had always found that to be immensely preferable to the simpler option of death. And there had certainly been instances when she had suspected that, like it or not, she was going to have to submit to the second option. The war had not been a very easy time for anyone, of course, but Ginny had felt it keenly. Having one brother on the wrong side of the divide, and her whole family permanently in danger while being utterly unable to do anything about it herself and knowing that somewhere out there, her brother was doing something big to make a difference, had been an uncomfortable situation to be in, and she had occupied said situation for the best part of a year.

She raised an eyebrow at her niece's request, but said nothing for a moment or two, allowing the girl to get everything off her mind, and of course giving herself time to think. If truth be told, she had never really done the whole dating thing. She and her various boyfriends had spent time together, of course; they had sat together in the common room; she had perched on their laps on windowsills and they had laid at her feet in the library, but they hadn't done the whole Madam Puddifoots' thing... aside from anything else, the Three Broomsticks had been much more her scene. Was there any advice that could be given? But then the next comment which Lucy made put all that out of her mind. That was not something which Ginny had ever thought about, and it wasn't something that she had ever experienced. Honestly, what qualification did she have to give out advice? But she had a responsibility, of sorts, and she was going to have to do her best to fulfil it. For a moment or two, she remained silent in thought.

lucy weasley

[lucy weasley]

Of course Lucy knew her aunt had no idea how to handle her second problem - not directly anyway Instead she wanted someone who would care, and be accepting. Someone she felt she could talk to, who she had no reason to fear the reaction from. Lucy could count the number of times she had seriously angered her aunt on one hand, and as a result she was rather trusting of the older woman. She was the first person that Lucy saw herself going to to confide in, especially here at school. Still, the silence began to bother her. Lucy herself stayed quiet for just a moment as well. "Uh... I know you never liked girls. Just... I needed to get that off my chest. I'm worried dad will freak out about it." She confessed. "And... I mean, is it okay, or will there be a bunch of awful drama?" She asked uncertainly. Perhaps Ginny had known other girls who had been through this.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I'm sorry that was a stupid thing to ask you." She said in a very real, and very unlike herself panic. She closed her eyes. "The real issue is the thing about boys. I've never had that and I kind of want to..." She revisited the first topic she'd bought up almost more to deflect the second now. Lucy wasn't an insecure person, and this was definitely unlike her but in this moment she could almost feel the danger of making things awkward between herself and one of her favourite people. Lucy knew that Ginny wouldn't judge her, but there was some small, nervous part of her that worried if she had been wrong about that, or if Ginny might simply feel awkward around her now.


@ginny

[Deleted]

Ginny had never seriously considered the possibility that she might be bisexual; it wasn't that she had anything against the suggestion, but it had simply never crossed her mind, and in any case, she had been far too busy having as much fun as was conceivable with a variety of different boys to even think about beginning to experiment with girls. She had held the females in her life sacrosanct from her admittedly varied romantic activities. There had to be a barrier of some kind, in Ginny's opinion, and that had been the one line which she had never crossed. The idea would, she imagined, have given her own mother a rather serious shock. She could just imagine Molly Weasley's face on learning that she would never see her one daughter in a bride's gown... that would be the interpretation which the older woman would choose to put upon it, in any case.

"No, no, not stupid at all." she assured Lucy. "It's just... It's not something I know much about. I'll write to a few people, see what they think. OK?" There were one or two people she'd known at school who might know what to do... she hoped. If not, then Ginny was going to have to do a bit of thinking. The redhead bit her lip thoughtfully; a habit which she'd had ever since she was eleven and had not managed to break in the interceding years.

"I don't think I understand you, Lucy." she murmured apologetically. "You've never had what, exactly? Surely you've had a boyfriend?" The woman was sure that she'd seen the Hufflepuff going around with a boy or two, although she did try to keep her nose out of her niece's business so far as she could.

[lucy weasley]

Lucy smiled at her aunt. "It's not that I haven't had boyfriends. But... When you were my age, you had a few right? I've just never been like... Really popular with guys, if that makes sense." Lucy was wrong about that. She'd had plenty of interest but she was also both a little picky, and a little hard to approach. When she was confident she was much more like her aunt than she was acting just now.  It wasn't that Lucy hadn't had interest from boys. It's that she hadn't had three particularly attractive boyfriends in under two years, like Ginny did around her age. 

"I guess with the ball coming up I don't really wanna go alone, and I don't want to just go with the first guy desperate enough to ask."

It hadn't been the ball that was on her mind when this conversation started but it was certainly taking up space in her head now. Lucy had never asked Ginny, or anyone for advice on her love life before and now that she had, she was feeling a little overwhelmed. The complicated, dramatic life of a teenager finally starting to weigh on her, with all the nonsensically enhanced importance that such things have in the mind of an adolescent. Lucy's insecurity was passing now at least. Ginny had been accepting of her declaration of her orientation and for some reason she had dreaded telling her, even if she assumed Ginny wou be fine with it. She felt a lot better now.

"You don't need to write anyone." She said with a smile. "Honestly I'm just kind of worried that when dad finds out, he'll take it badly. I'd be surprised if he and mum hadn't been planning my wedding since I could walk." She was exaggerating of course, but the sentiment was true. Lucy's father had always been rigid, and she was constantly worried about disappointing him. If he'd been an uncle, if she had been Ginny's daughter, or uncle Ron's, she would never have listened to Percy, but immediate family, of course, was very important to her. She didn't want to let her dad down, she knew how hard he had worked to give her more than he had grown up with, even if his parents were kind, and he himself was a prat.

[Deleted]

Ginny returned the girl's smile, pleased to see that at least her niece didn't appear to be especially worried or upset by whatever problems she thought she was experiencing. Now, with years and experience weighing in solidly behind her, she recognised that all those problems and worries which had seemed to be so important and world-consuming when she was a teenager, hormonal and worried about what others thought of her, were actually really rather trivial, but she had also been working in a school for some time now, and she had come to recognise that, to those who were still inhabiting the dangerous and murky lands which were the teenage years, these matters were of vital importance, and although to any adult there was something mildly humorous in the situation, it was crucial that Ginny did not allow such feelings to overcome her. To Lucy, the situation was unique and important, a one-off, and so Ginny had to treat that with respect.

"Lucy, going off willy-nilly with any boy who happens to catch your eye is not the one and only way to live your life, you know." she pointed out gently with a slight smile. "I did it because I had a short attention span and I quite liked being popular, and I hadn't really worked out what I wanted to do with myself. If you're a bit more collected, then that's a good thing." She suspected that the girl had inherited a more serious outlook on life from her father, which was a definite benefit in Ginny's opinion. The redhead wished now that she had taken things a little more seriously when she was in her fifth year. It would have made things far easier for her.

She did understand the girl's reluctance to go alone to the ball though. That had always been a worry for Ginny too, but thankfully she had never been left alone against the wall as so many others had. It would have been awfully embarrassing to have everyone watching as she stood there by herself looking forlorn. "Then what you need to do is get yourself together and ask someone before anyone else does." she offered. Ginny knew that it was not nearly so simple as it sounded, but it had to be done otherwise one really would end up going alone.

The redhead nodded sympathetically in response to the girl's worries. They were absolutely legitimate, and there was nothing which she could really say to dispel them. "Would you like me to write to them?" she enquired.

[lucy weasley]

Lucy was just the same as most teens, and she found herself surprised by her aunt's seriousness. discouraging her from the same sorts of behaviour that had seen Ginny rise to popularity with the young male population of this castle two decades earlier. She nodded. It was a rare thing when her father and her aunt agreed entirely, and usually when it did happen, Lucy didn't like it, but she knew it was in her best interests to listen. She respected this woman and her life experience. The girl knew that she would thank her aunt for this in a few years, even if she wasn't ready to yet. She had learned from a young age that she had to value forward thinking, or else her father would have driven her mad.

Lucy listened to her aunt as she asked her to ask someone. That was an interesting notion. She had been listening to the other girls talking about how girls shouldn't ask, how they should flirt and be playful and coy and try to prompt male attention. Lucy wasn't the giggly, flirty type, so that approach was never going to suit her. What her aunt said made perfect sense. She had to be assertive. the younger redhead nodded once more as her mind wandered to who she might have asked. Would it be a guy, would it even be a girl... That would make quite a stir if she had chosen a lady.

"What would you say if you did?" Lucy found herself asking in response to her aunt's question about writing her parents. Lucy wasn't ashamed of her bisexuality, but it was a sensitive topic, more for reasons of her father's reaction... And then it hit her, Lucy wouldn't ever be alone, she had family members like Louis who were bisexual, she had her grandmother, Molly, who would have come down like a tonne of bricks on her father if Percy had decided to give her a hard time over who she was. The support from her aunt had made her realise that while Percy might wince to hear that he may not have grand children from her, her family would support her over all.