Author's note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Assignment #6, Muggle Studies Task #2, Write about worrying about where someone else is.

Warnings: NA

The Right Time, The Right Clock

The Daily Prophet was spread out before her—bundles of papers and lies where there ought to be truth and news, as far as Ginny was concerned. Still, she'd gotten up at the crack of dawn to meet Eroll and catch the paper as soon as it was printed and sent out. The smell of ink and paper reached Ginny's nose, but really she felt as if she were in a world of her own.

She was staring off, away from the page where a columnist was honestly suggesting that perhaps Harry Potter was already dead. As if that was a sound theory—or one that deserved to be thrown out into the world that thoughtlessly and… well, she hated how wishful the paper sounded. As if it would be nicer for this to all be over than for Harry to be alive. At the moment, it was better to look off into the distance, anywhere rather than the paper. She'd abandoned her cup of coffee and the thick slices of toast slathered with jam Mum had dropped on the table earlier, nudging Ginny to eat.

Mum hadn't left the kitchen since putting on her lavender apron and getting a head start on breakfast. She'd fed and gotten everyone out of the house, except for Ginny. Now, Mum was hovering and Ginny knew she was keeping an eye on her, watching Ginny stare off at nothing. No, not at nothing. Who was Ginny kidding? She was staring at the clock.

"Sweetheart?" Mum asked finally. She'd drifted closer to Ginny now, to assess how she was doing. She'd seen the article Ginny had been reading.

"Oh, sweetheart," Mum said with a sigh. She ran her hand through Ginny's hair, and Ginny leaned into her touch. She loved having her hair played with. Mum knew that. Luna knew that. Harry knew that.

"I worry about him. I just wish he was on the clock," Ginny said at last. She knew that technically it wouldn't help, since all the hands were frozen on "in grave danger" ages ago and hadn't moved since the war had begun. It made since there were a myriad of ways for them to die nowadays, to put it a mild way. Still. It would be nice to have a clue.

Her mum's hand froze in her hair.

"I know, sweetheart," she said. She leaned down and kissed the top of Ginny's hand before resuming the soft, gentle stroking motion through Ginny's curtain of hair. "I worry about him too. And he should be on that clock, honestly, that boy is family…."

Mum said the words and Ginny clamped down on her lip.

She turned towards her mum whose hand remained frozen in midair, somewhat shocked at Ginny's sudden turn.

"Mum," Ginny said carefully. "I'm worried because I'm in love with him."

Usually, Mum was pretty easy to read—which was nice about her. You always knew where you stood and if you were in trouble, well you were in trouble and then everyone could move on. But her reaction to this particular announcement was… well, Ginny didn't quite know what was going on in Mum's head but she could tell it was a lot.

Finally, Mum's face rested on one facial expression for more than two seconds.

"I didn't know that," Mum said, trying to sound casual. "How long..?"

"For a long time," Ginny said. "But we were… we were going out in the spring, before school ended. He ended it because he didn't think it was safe."

Mum's face blanched for a moment.

"Ginny…" she said. "That… that would have been important for us to know, in case that…"

She stopped herself before she launched into a rant. Obviously, if Death Eaters had tried to shake down the girl who'd once been in love with Harry Potter, they hadn't managed to do any meaningful harm. Ginny watched Mum calculate all the risks and potential outcomes in her head, just like she always did with her brood—clock be damned.

Finally, she decided to just start stroking Ginny's hair again. Frankly, Ginny was a little surprised. If Ginny was feisty, it wasn't because she'd licked it off the wall. She and Mum had an equal bite and Ginny had long dreaded and braced for the moment she would eventually learn about her relationship with Harry. It had for sure gotten back to certain members of the Order, but so far Remus, Tonks, and (for some unknown reason) even her brothers had kept it to themselves. She hadn't expected… well, she hadn't expected all of this to be so gentle. Warmth fluttered in her chest, followed through quickly by a wave of thankfulness for Mum.

"We'll get him back soon," Mum promised simply. "That's not an option on the clock, but I know it, love. We'll get everyone and everything back soon."

Stacked with: Hogwarts; Shipping War; Spring Bingo; Link Maker

Individual Challenge(s): Gryffindor MC (x2); Rian-Russo Inversion; Old Shoes; Short Jog

Word Count: 809

Spring Bingo

Space (Prompt): 3A (Warmth)

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley

List (Prompt): Spring Micro 1 (Soul Marks AU)